Los chinos vigilando navíos militares en el EStrecho de Gibraltar:
http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=12559
MILITARY SPOOKS WATCH OUT FOR CHINA’S STRAIT TRAFFIC
• By Brian Reyes
Western military intelligence analysts have closely tracked the movements of state-owned Chinese cargo ships that visit the Bay of Gibraltar when warships berth at the Rock. Analysts trawled through years of data after port workers noticed that Chinese ships repeatedly coincided with British and US navy vessels in port.
Most of the merchant ships were operated by a Chinese government company sus-pected in the past of involvement in state-sponsored espionage.
Military officials insisted the timing of the visits was most likely down to chance.
But they were intrigued that the number of Chinese ships in the area often seemed to peak on days when there was a navy presence here.
The activities of China’s state owned companies are increasingly drawing attention from western governments.
The west is keen to foster strong economic links with Beijing but is wary too of China’s widening strategic reach.
Earlier this month it was revealed that Jonathan Evans, the Director General of British intelligence service MI5, had sent a confidential letter to the heads of 300 major companies warning them that their information systems were under threat from Chinese web-based espionage.
The letter drew a furious response from Beijing but laid bare the west’s Cold War-style standoff with China over its pursuit of new technologies and raw materials around the world.
China is believed to be deploying ever increasing numbers of spies to mop up western secrets.
In response, British and US secret services are recruiting personnel able to speak Mandarin and counter the growing Chinese influence.
Earlier this year, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee urged the British Government to step up its surveillance of Chinese activity amid fears that closer ties between China and Russia could lead to “an authoritarian bloc opposed to democracy and Western values”.
MPs are also worried by a grouping set up by China, Russia and a number of central Asian states called the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which they believe Beijing may try to develop into a rival to western organisations such as the G8.
In Gibraltar, both British and US naval intelligence analysts have sifted through years of data and compared shipping lists against dates when navy vessels were in port. They found positive matches in nearly all the navy calls they reviewed.
In one example, during a five-day visit by the British submarine HMS Superb four state-owned Chinese ships called for bunkers in the bay, each staying here for several hours.
Between July 29 and July 31 last year, when HMS Illustrious was in port following her deployment to the Lebanon crisis, at least eight government-owned Chinese ships were monitored in the area of Gibraltar.
The Chronicle cross referenced publicly-available shipping databases with military vessel movements over the past two years and established numerous similar instances.
We also checked periods in between the navy visits and found that the level of activity of Chinese-owned shipping dropped dramatically.
Yet any evidence of a pattern is inconclusive.
Maritime industry experts contacted by this newspaper scoffed at the idea that these Chinese ships might be engaged in anything other than legitimate trading.
They cautioned that nothing could be read into their presence in this area because the Strait of Gibraltar was one of the world’s main shipping routes, through which 80,000 vessels sail every year.
China operates a fleet of hundreds of merchant ships and it was inevitable that many of them would sail through the Strait and regularly visit Gibraltar for fuel.
But intelligence sources have told the Chronicle that it is quite possible that some ships may be involved in surveillance operations similar to those carried out by Russian spy trawlers during the Cold War.
If nothing else, it is likely that these state-owned merchant ships are reporting back to Beijing any military movements they may come across during the course of their routine trading around the globe.
One US intelligence source based in Rota said some of the ships could also be equipped with sophisticated eavesdropping equipment used to monitor electronic signals.
He said China’s military technology lagged behind that of Western nations and that therefore Chinese ships could be ‘fishing’ for anything that may be of use. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said this might include “dual purpose” technology, referring to equipment that could have both military and commercial usage.
The Chronicle asked the British Ministry of Defence for a reaction to this story.
“We do monitor all maritime traffic but we don’t target specific nations,” an MoD spokesman said.
“There is no evidence of intelligence gathering in Gibraltar waters by Chinese ships.”
HISTORICAL CONCERNS
If there is any real substance to concerns about Chinese activity, the officials were not letting on.
The nature of intelligence work means that hard information on issues such as these is next to impossible to come by.
There is however some material available publicly – what officials refer to as “open source” documents – which can help build up a picture of why the Chinese ships raised eyebrows, particularly for the US military.
A key issue is that most of the vessels were owned and operated by the China Ocean Shipping Company [COSCO] and its subsidiaries.
In the business world, the company is regarded as a reputable maritime operator that carries all sorts of commodities across the globe and has major investments in all continents where its vessels trade.
But some Western governments also view the company as the merchant arm of the Chinese navy, an extension of the Beijing state apparatus.
COSCO is no stranger to controversy, especially in the US.
In the late 1990s, it found itself at the centre of a major row over national security following news of its plans to invest in port facilities in Long Beach, California.
A 1999 report on Chinese espionage by the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence – commonly known as the Cox Report – included references to the shipping company.
The full report is a classified document but much of it was made available at the time to the US Senate and the public.
The document noted the Long Beach episode – COSCO was eventually barred from buying into the port – and referred to another incident in which 2,000 assault rifles were found hidden on a COSCO ship arriving in a US port.
The Cox Report cited the House Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare as saying that: “Although presented as a commercial entity, COSCO is actually an arm of the Chinese military establishment.”
The Cox Report added: “The Clinton administration has determined that additional information concerning COSCO that appears in the Select Committee’s classified Final Report cannot be made public without affecting national security.”
The 900-page document, which focused primarily on China’s alleged theft of US nuclear technology, drew equal amounts of praise and derision.
Critics dismissed it as a hard-right effort to undermine relations between the US and China, while others took it as a warning of things to come.
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US CONCERNS: China figures high on the list of US foreign policy concerns in this part of the world.
Much of the focus is on China’s presence and influence in oil-rich countries in West Africa.
The point was succinctly made by General James Jones, NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe, during a briefing to journalists over a year ago.
“It’s beyond question that China is the most aggressive country economically in Africa today,” the US general said.
“It’s very, very clear that in terms of economic competition and the immense wealth and potential of Africa, that China is moving out all over the world.”
“China is very, very active.”
In response, the US is deploying increasing resources into Africa, particularly West Africa.
Vice Admiral John Stufflebeem, Commander of the US 6th Fleet, cited Chinese activity in that region as one of the main drivers behind the decision to end the permanent posting of a US military attaché in Gibraltar.
At a private retirement ceremony last year for Commander Aladar Nesser, the last officer who held the post, Vice Admiral Stufflebeem said the change in strategic focus was in response to a new threat that “appears to be coming over the horizon south and east.”
He spoke about vigorous competition for energy resources and said that West Africa was fast becoming a focal point for any potential security crisis in this part of the world.
The US was actively engaged with governments in the region, but so too were the Chinese, he said.
“We tell them [the governments] what to build and then the Chinese come and build it for them,” he said, only half in jest.
The US 6th Fleet currently has a task force posted to West Africa to assist fledgling African states build up their navies to secure their maritime domain.
“It is a reality that I have to find resources to put into other spots [in that region],” the Vice Admiral concluded.
